Guns & Barbour Coats at the 2009 Orvis Cup

Anyone that follows along with my (mostly) nonsensical twitter updates knows that I was lucky enough to head up the Taconic State Parkway to the Orvis Sandanona shooting grounds this past weekend to shoot some clays and learn how to fly fish. The day was hosted by the good folks at Barbour and couldn’t have been more fun. You can read all about it over at Men.Style.com. While you are there, check out their great hunting gear story.

I hope people aren’t seriously taking hunting advice from that Men.Style.com article. “You don’t need camo for duck hunting”? Apparently someone has never been duck hunting…

Michael Williamson September 23, 2009@ 8:32 PM:

I hunt ducks at Whole Foods, so put me in the camo is optional camp.

Nileson September 23, 2009@ 8:49 PM:

skinny jeans and skeet shooting. hmm… not the most traditional combination. Are the kids in williamsburg gonna start toting a breach-break over the shoulder as the hot new trend? ;) Ha, just playing.

r_moresinon September 23, 2009@ 11:11 PM:

Quite a shooting style there. With that stance I’m surprised you didn’t fall backwards from the recoil!

Michael Williamson September 23, 2009@ 11:15 PM:

“Iâ€™m surprised you didnâ€™t fall backwards from the recoil!” STFU

danon September 23, 2009@ 11:24 PM:

Yesterday I purchased a Glock 23 while wearing Red Wing boots. Properly thrashed and broke in, of course. Today I snagged a box of .40 rounds donned in RLL denim. Did I mention that transaction was at Wal-Mart? The looks I received for carrying a baby blue sponge scrub in my left hand and bullets in my right while NOT wearing a wife-beater was classic!

It’s funny how you grow up in the country doing fun stuff like this and fantasize about moving to the big city, and then you move to the big city and fantasize about going to the country so you can do this kind of stuff again. Or maybe that was just my experience.

Translation: I’m jealous you got to do this and would like to shoot something soon.

Juleson September 24, 2009@ 4:45 PM:

What jean/boot combo is being worn in the last video? Looks really nice.

vivon September 24, 2009@ 5:02 PM:

Wow, the new Cole, Rood, and Haan website is amazing! It’s so easy to use and clean, with all the shoes laid out, and the styles are very attractive, too.

pitboss12on September 24, 2009@ 6:17 PM:

Looks like a pretty great time. I used to work at a gun club during college. The pictures take me back and remind me I have to take my guns out every so often.

Also, do work on the stance.

Doublegunon September 24, 2009@ 9:40 PM:

Michael,

How about a trip to the real woods, chasing grouse and woodcock with Parkers, following setters right out of Osthause paintings, in a woods ablaze with every color imaginable? Taking a break in the afternoon to catch native brook trout with bamboo fly rods and delicate Blue Wing Olives and wrapping up the day with a fine dinner a good bottle of Merlot or two, followed by a couple of fingers of good Rye in front of a roaring fire and sleepy bird dogs dreaming on the hearth. That’s the real deal, not that Orvis, Barbour trying to be outdoorsie crap. Give me the crunch of leaves under my boots, the sound of a brass bell as a dog works the popple, the roar of a grouse flush, the feel of a 100-year old double barrel carried in the same woods for by generations of hunters, the taste of chedder and salami eaten while sitting on a tail gate and the company of fine grouse dogs and old friends. That you’ll never experience during a $75 round of clays.

Michael Williamson September 24, 2009@ 9:46 PM:

DG,

You think you’re Mickey Spillane? You think you’re some kind of a fuckin’ writer?

ACL

JPon September 24, 2009@ 11:25 PM:

He actually is some kinda writer. Probably owns a Barbour too, I’d bet.

JP

Doublegunon September 25, 2009@ 6:24 PM:

You think youâ€™re Mickey Spillane? You think youâ€™re some kind of a fuckinâ€™ writer?” I bet they weren’t talking like that at the Orvis Day Camp. I apologize if you think I was dissing your story. Re-reading my comments I can understand how you feel that way. I certainly applaud you for going out and doing a piece on style and the shooting sports. However, I would respectfully suggest that you find some grouse hunters and take a trip to Maine, Vermont of New Hampshire and cover the rich, texture filled world of the upland life. Where itâ€™s not just about form, itâ€™s about style and substance.

Actually, I have worn through two Barbour Beaufort coats. Best damn coat for keeping the rain out and fending off briars but if you are really hunting, exerting yourself or just using the coat for its intended purpose, you’ll find yourself soaked from sweat. You’ll also find out that the corduroy collar wicks rain right to your shoulders so you need to wear a hat with a brim. Own one long enough and you’ll also learn that as the wax wears off and as the cotton gets wet and dries the coat will shrink and you wind up giving it to your wife and/or kids (or course by then the coat will stink to the point where they won’t touch it, let alone wear it).

Cheers,

DG

JNon September 25, 2009@ 6:40 PM:

Any idea of the sort of boot the bearded fellow was wearing?

JPon September 26, 2009@ 6:13 PM:

I like this Doublegun guy. A lot.

JP

Michael Williamson September 26, 2009@ 6:17 PM:

JN â€” Red Wing boots.

DoubleGun â€” Ever see Full Metal Jacket? That is where my comment comes from, and I wasn’t taking offense at what you were saying. Although, it is not likely I will be out hunting anytime soon. I’m too busy faking like I do on the internet.

Flockeron September 27, 2009@ 10:45 PM:

I guess I am the inverse of you guys. I am lucky that i get to do a decent amount of bird hunting, and get a strange satisfaction from wearing great outdoor clothes made by/for hippies, leftists, and causeheads (Patagonia / Northface /Mt. Khakis in browns and greens).

I am still waiting for Patagonia to use the pic I sent (quartering a feral hog) in their catalog.

Chris Bryeron October 9, 2009@ 7:24 PM:

I havent done too much upland bird hunting in the states but in Europe (mainly France) Barbour is a mainstay. Woodcock (Becasse), Partridge and Pheasant are the prey and good dogs are crucial as they dont push birds like they do here.

Chris Bryeron October 9, 2009@ 7:26 PM:

Here is a video of Becasse hunting in France.

JWon October 15, 2009@ 9:27 AM:

Hey Doublegun,

I’ll go grouse hunting with you anytime. Just ask. Seriously. I’ve got a puppy I’m trying to train. Need to see good grouse dogs in action, and they are harder to find than hen’s teeth.

By the way, the comments about Barbours and sweating are dead on. Waxed jackets are great for riding, driven shoots, and anything else that calls for sitting on your arse in the rain like an English lordling. But grouse hunting is serious exercise. Give me my Patagonia …. and of course my trusty roll of duct tape, since no gore-tex ever made can escape unscathed from the Lair of the Grouse God!